[toyokie]

What ecm or sensor mod seems to work the best on the rav4 and what brand is recommended. I've seen a lot of cheap, unknown types on e-bay but figure I would probably get what I payed for and possibly do more harm than good. Any ideas?

 

[Slayer]

You could look into a Jet performance ecu chip. I've looked thru their site and it seems that the chip they use for 4 cylinder Toyota trucks pushes out 13-14 more hp. Not sure if that includes the Rav4 though, but you could ask. Check them out at http://www.jetchip.com/
I'm looking into that as well cuz turbos and superchargers just seem like wishful thinking to me right now. Not because of the cost, but cause I still want to keep things legal which in California is pretty darn hard as they allow almost no engine modification unless the part is CARB certified. The Jet chip while illegal also would not outright make me fail a smog test, visual or otherwise. It's kinda hard to hide a supercharger or turbo.

 

[Jeff]

It just makes you waste more gas......

By the way those $20 mod chips on eBay are junk.

 

[toyokie]

It just makes you waste more gas......

By the way those $20 mod chips on eBay are junk.

They must be pretty worthless because I looked a couple of them up and could not get a number to call and talk to a real person about them. The intake sensors claimed 7 to 10 hp and bids start at 99 cents and a buy it now price of $1.99 and still no takers.I could probably disconnect mine, save the buck and get the same effect. Nothing but an inflated shipping charge for something that does nothing

 

[mensajero]

Dude, try a performance module. I installed it and it works well. Besides, you can't beat the price. Power, yea, it giddy up quite a bit. but it won't smoke the tires. But you can feel the torque.

 

[Jeff]

There is a difference between a real performance chip and the crap on eBay.

A real chip usually attaches to your engine computer (hence the name chip) to alter some of the programming for better performance. They tend to cost a couple hundred bucks, but according to many people are worth it because they can increase power slightly.

The junk on eBay just fools your air intake temp sensor into thinking the air is always cold, thus injecting more fuel.

 

[DJ Sueno]

Forget the chips.... if you really want to make power, buy a fuel controller likea Apexi SAFC , make sure you install and wire it up properly, and then get it dyno tuned....

 

[jimc]

I did a short study on the "temp-fake resistor" that aims to fool your CPU into thinking the air is hotter - so it provides better mixture. I actually wired a variable resistor (5kohms) to inside the car - so I could modify the value (while driving) and see if there was a difference in driving. I did find a little difference in pick-up 0 but also found I used more gas. After about six months, I decided it was not worth the trouble.